About

Welcome!

When I started GetValue in 2008 there were about a dozen Online Shopping sites on the entire South African web. My original idea had been to talk about how to get good deals online but – to be honest – there was very little source material. So instead I wrote about how to get free stuff.

Since then so much has changed. We went through the explosion and implosion of the Group Buying sites, the swallowing up of the oldest Online Shopping site Kalahari by Takealot and the proliferation of all kinds of Online Shopping sites – I have a list with over 200 URL’s.

South Africa has become more connected and for those of us who have access to the tech it has become almost second nature to look up products online before we buy. It is even easier that ever to get things delivered to your door. A month ago I ordered a washing machine part from Amazon and it took 3 weeks for it to arrive at my doorstep – and I live in a small coastal town hundreds of kilometers from a major City.

The result is that GetValue keeps changing and all I am currently trying to do with posts is to list various Online Shopping sites and help you get an idea of how useful, usable and efficient they are. If you go to the sites, you often find that they bury a lot of relevant information in the rush to capture your e-mail and get you to sign up. What I do is to dig around try to summarize the most relevant things about each site that can help you decide whether to sign up and shop there. Not a review as such, but an overview of what to expect.

Thanks to all who visit and leave comments.

Julian

About me: My name is Julian Beams and my biggest problem is that everything interests me – technology, theology, psychology, physics, biochemistry, music, wine, horse-racing, writing and more! I am an Internet junkie. When I have a question, the first place I look for an answer is online. I also read constantly and for some reason absorb lots of trivia.